One more time

We now have 17 more lives lost to a gun-wielding assailant and, once again, we see the debate for gun control bubbling up to the surface with just as much vitriol as the last time this happened and the time before that.

Tomi Lahren, a conservative talking head online, of course chimed in with this: “Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda? My goodness. This isn’t about a gun it’s about another lunatic. #FloridaShooting.”

My goodness, indeed – combine this with the blithering bile from lawmakers like Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz saying that we don’t need “knee-jerk” reactions or politicization of the incident respectively, and we have a full-blown case of insanity.

Seventeen. We have 17 people dead, and these are some of the responses we’re seeing.

Is there some magical threshold of bodies that has been established that no one is sharing with the rest of us? Have we not met that quota yet to address a serious problem we’re having in our country?

The creature who took these lives – no, I will not name nor give them the credit of human monikers – is being reported as someone who had a history of violent behavior, of threatening students, of allegedly commenting, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter,” on a YouTube video.

They had a history of mental health issues and yet were able to purchase the firearms that took these kids’ lives. They had an assault rifle. They allegedly had connections with a white supremacist group in Florida.

All of this and yet it is too soon to be politicizing the incident and talking about gun control. Yet, it’s not too soon to use everyone’s favorite catchphrase, “thoughts and prayers,” while taking donations from the NRA.

It’s not too soon to start preaching that any talk of legislation means any and all gun owners are having their 2nd amendment rights infringed upon.

It’s not too soon to say one’s ability to own a gun is more important than another human life.

Ironic that the 2nd amendment was all about protecting yourself and your folk, but is largely being clung to while murderers are taking our citizens’ lives.

Well, this entire situation has offered an addition to the vernacular.

If you ever need to say something for when you want to appear mournful without doing anything to actually solve a serious problem, just repeat after me and several of our representatives in Congress: